MONTREAL -- Usually, it's the training and medical staff that draws a lot of credit in getting an injured Penguins player back on the ice.
In the case of Jordan Staal, you can throw equipment manager Dana Heinze into the mix.
Heinze worked to repair the tongue of Staal's right skate, and, when the hulking center participated in his first full practice Wednesday since having foot surgery Friday, surprisingly he was wearing the same skate he had on when he collided with Montreal's P.K. Subban.
It seems that nearly everything about what Staal called "a little freak accident" has been surprising -- in particular, his quick recovery from a sliced tendon on the top of his right foot.
"He was getting around the ice pretty well," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said after the team held an optional practice at the Bell Centre. "It's encouraging for him and his injury."
That doesn't mean Staal, who has missed the past two games, is ready to jump into Game 4 of the Penguins-Canadiens second-round playoff series tonight, but no one was ruling him out or lifting the "day-to-day" tag from him.
"You want to get back as soon as you can no matter what -- whether there's pain involved or not," said Staal, who played in 358 consecutive games before the injury and has two goals, four points in seven games this postseason.
He said there is still some pain and swelling, but that being in a form-fitting skate makes skating a little easier than walking for now.
"Even if he's not back right away, it's encouraging to see him out there skating," team captain Sidney Crosby said. "It was quite the scare for him and everyone else when it happened."
Staal was slow getting up after the collision with Subban in the second period of Game 1. Subban's skate blade had cut through Staal's skate.
He gave this CliffsNotes version of what happened next:
"I went to the bench. I looked down. It wasn't looking good. So I went to the [dressing] room and took the skate off. I knew it wasn't just a cut. I went straight to the hospital, had a little surgery, went home and had a good sleep."
He declined to say how severely the tendon was damaged or whether it was sliced through.
Bylsma said Staal began recovering quickly enough that the club opted Monday to bring him along to Montreal. The next day, Staal talked his way into going on the ice before the Penguins' game-day skate.
"I kind of threw it out there just to see what they'd say," Staal said. "They kind of shrugged their shoulders and said, 'Why not?' and I just went out there and tested it out."
That was about 10 minutes in a warm-up suit.
Wednesday, it was a full practice in his regular gear, plus clear plastic protective shields over his skates. He took part in drills and a four-on-four scrimmage.
"It was more just staying out there as long as I can and not feeling that it's getting worse," Staal said. "That was a good thing -- it wasn't really getting any worse. I'm feeling pretty happy with it."
He started off a bit tentative.
"I think when he first got out there, he was putting his toes in the water, kind of seeing how his foot was going to react," Bylsma said. "As you watched the four-on-four, a couple of times he busted through the defense and skated by guys, and you probably didn't see anything that reminded you that he had an injury to his foot."
At one point in the scrimmage, winger Ruslan Fedotenko crashed into Staal, sending him to the ice.
"Practice is one thing, but in games there are hits and leaning on each other and getting into scrums," Staal said. "Mentally, for a player, that's tough to get into. [Fedotenko] was just testing me a little bit."
He apparently passed -- as did the repaired skate.
First Published: May 6, 2010, 8:00 a.m.
